Phineas F. Bresee - A Prince In Israel - Media Sabda Org

exhorting, and encouraging, that people seldom took advantage of him. He was especially courteous
to old people, saying sometimes, 'They'll not be here long' He believed in enthusiasm in religion, was
very set against formality and coldness, and was an adept at arousing fervor, and stirring up the
people to devotion."
Family Relationship
He dearly loved his parents, and saw to it that they had a home with him for many years prior to
their death. During the more than fifty-five years that intervened between his marriage and his death,
he was most devoted to his noble wife, and she to him. Their union was ideal. He was a fond father,
and was greatly loved and revered by all his children.
His Library
Although to a large extent self-educated, he was a man of ripe culture, and very extensive reading.
He generally bought the books that he read, and thus gradually accumulated a valuable library.
Surrounded by the books which he had acquired during all the years of his ministry, and which
represented his intellectual, and to some degree, his spiritual growth, he prepared his sermons,
pursued his studies, and conducted his voluminous correspondence. His library was rich, of course,
in theological works, sacred history, and the biographies of the great men and women in the kingdom
of God through all the ages. It was well supplied with books which sought to explain and elucidate
the inspired writings of Isaiah and the apostle Paul.
He was fond of poetry and philosophy, and appreciated the importance of historical studies. He
read with relish, and enjoyed discussing the works of Carlyle and Emerson, the former of whom had
a marked influence on his life and literary style. The sermons of the mighty preachers of his own and
other times occupied a conspicuous place in his collection of books.
Prominent among the many volumes which contributed to his culture in the earlier years of his
ministry, and constituted measurably his literary and theological equipment, were the following:
Delineation of Roman Catholicism, by Charles Elliott, D. D.; Illustrations of Biblical Literature, by
James Townley, D.D.; Butler's Analogy; The Laws of Figurative Language, by John Lord, and
Beacon Lights of History, by D. N. Lord; Meditations on the Actual State of Christianity, by M.
Guizot; Mental Philosophy, by Joseph Haven, D.D.; The Cosmos, by Alexander Humboldt; The
Immortality of the Soul, by Hiram Mattison, D.D.; Lectures on the English Language, by George P.
Marsh; Works of Dr. Stephen Olin; Ecce Deus; Ecco Homo; Credo; Rev. James Saurin's Sermons,
translated from the French; History of the Christian Church, by Philip Schaff, D.D.; History of the
Reformation, by George P. Fisher; God in Human Thought, by E. H. Gillett; Horace Bushnell's
Works; The Influence of Jesus Christ, by Phillips Brooks; Boston Monday Lectures, by Joseph
Cook; Modern Doubt and Christian Belief, by Theodore Christlieb, D.D.; The Theistic Conception
of the World, by B. F. Cocker, D.D.; Endeavors After the Christian Life, by James Martineau;
Wonders of the Deity, by M. Schele de Vere; History of the Eastern Church, by Arthur Penryn
Stanley, D.D.; Rush on the Voice; The Life of Edward Irving, by Mrs. Oliphant; and Doomed
Religions, by Rev. J. M. Reid.